Employers should ensure that their employees of all levels i.e. workers, supervisors and managers, possess basic Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) competencies.
WSH competencies enable employees to:
- Recognise potentially hazardous situations;
- Know their responsibilities under the WSH Act; and
- Know their roles in creating safe work conditions.
Such competencies can be developed through formal courses or on-the-job training. More information about the competency standards and training courses are available below:
To assist employers, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee (WSHAC) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) have developed a set of generic competency standards for workers of all levels.
Generic Competency Standards
The module on generic competency standards, under WDA's Employability Skills System (ESS), is part of the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) System.
The generic competency standards for employees of various levels are as follows:
- Operations Level
Workers should be able to:
- Identify their responsibilities under the WSH Act;
- Follow hazard identification and risk control procedures; and
- Contribute to the management of WSH through consultation and participation.
- Identify their responsibilities under the WSH Act;
- Understand WSH policies, procedures and programmes;
- Educate workers on WSH policies, procedures and programmes;
- Implement and monitor participation and consultation channels for the management of WSH; and
- Implement and monitor the organisation's risk management procedures.
- Identify their responsibilities under the WSH Act;
- Establish and maintain the framework for the WSH system;
- Establish and maintain participation and communication channels for the management of WSH;
- Establish and maintain the organisation's risk management procedures; and
- Evaluate the organisation's WSH system, policies, procedures and programmes.
